Updates ???? When ????
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Thanks for taking the time to reply directly. I really appreciate you stepping in to explain your perspective and your development workflow.
To be clear, my frustration was never intended as a personal attack on your hard work, but rather a reflection of the user experience from this side of the screen. When almost a year goes by without a visible patch through third-party launchers like Aerosoft One, and with MSFS 2024 on the horizon, it’s easy for customers to feel left in the dark—especially when bug reports accumulate over time.
I do understand your reasoning regarding larger, consolidated updates over frequent small hotfixes, as well as the added logistics of managing sound designers, multiple platforms, and dual-simulator compatibility for both MSFS 2020 and 2024. It is good to hear that MSFS 2020 support is still a priority and that substantial new features are being ported over for free.
That said, the core issue remains the timeline itself: waiting a full year for an update is simply too long. Even if there are threads on the forum discussing development progress, users shouldn't have to constantly comb through forum posts just to get news—especially when dedicated apps like Aerosoft One exist precisely to handle and notify us of updates. The expectation from a customer's perspective is to receive fixes and support on their system within a reasonable timeframe, rather than having to follow forum discussions for months waiting for a single massive patch.
Thank you for the clarification regarding the sound design status—it's great to know the update is in its final stages. I look forward to testing the new features once the update is pushed to the storefronts.
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Thanks for taking the time to reply directly. I really appreciate you stepping in to explain your perspective and your development workflow.
To be clear, my frustration was never intended as a personal attack on your hard work, but rather a reflection of the user experience from this side of the screen. When almost a year goes by without a visible patch through third-party launchers like Aerosoft One, and with MSFS 2024 on the horizon, it’s easy for customers to feel left in the dark—especially when bug reports accumulate over time.
I do understand your reasoning regarding larger, consolidated updates over frequent small hotfixes, as well as the added logistics of managing sound designers, multiple platforms, and dual-simulator compatibility for both MSFS 2020 and 2024. It is good to hear that MSFS 2020 support is still a priority and that substantial new features are being ported over for free.
That said, the core issue remains the timeline itself: waiting a full year for an update is simply too long. Even if there are threads on the forum discussing development progress, users shouldn't have to constantly comb through forum posts just to get news—especially when dedicated apps like Aerosoft One exist precisely to handle and notify us of updates. The expectation from a customer's perspective is to receive fixes and support on their system within a reasonable timeframe, rather than having to follow forum discussions for months waiting for a single massive patch.
Thank you for the clarification regarding the sound design status—it's great to know the update is in its final stages. I look forward to testing the new features once the update is pushed to the storefronts.
A very bizzar take, Nick is one of the few developers that continues to keep aircraft updated (and retroactively implements features to previous aircraft). There are plenty of addons which you pay a substantial chunk of money to, that do not have the support that we have with the blacksquare addons.
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There’s really nothing "bizarre" about a customer expecting product support within a reasonable timeframe.
No one is denying Nick’s talent or the quality of Black Square products—I’ve already acknowledged both. However, pointing out that other developers offer even worse support doesn't make a one-year update gap any less frustrating for the end user. Accepting poor support elsewhere as the standard only lowers the bar for everyone.
Nick gave a clear and transparent explanation regarding the sound design process and the upcoming release, which I appreciated and accepted. There’s no need to turn a valid discussion about update schedules into a defense team effort. I'm looking forward to the update when it arrives.
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A very bizzar take, Nick is one of the few developers that continues to keep aircraft updated (and retroactively implements features to previous aircraft). There are plenty of addons which you pay a substantial chunk of money to, that do not have the support that we have with the blacksquare addons.
@hazzer111 I can see where they're coming from. I often take issue with some devs' ways of doing things, because to me what matters is how something works for the end user. For example, I use Axis and Ohs for virtually all of my bindings, but I still feel pretty strongly that they should be accessible somehow through the default sim bindings, even if it means repurposing some of them. I usually don't say much about it, because it doesn't really affect me personally -- but I might speak up if it did. And Nick has talked about his round of "summer updates" a few times, but summer is just about over in the northern hemisphere and if the updates take much longer, it'll be closer to summer in the southern hemisphere. The wait time doesn't bother me, but calling them "summer updates" at might at this point start to rankle some people who are a little less patient! Perception matters.
Also, if they're used to certain developers, like say Flysimware or FSR, who somehow keep a frenetic pace on their updates, Black Square updates might seem especially slow. It all depends on what you're used to.
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@hazzer111 I can see where they're coming from. I often take issue with some devs' ways of doing things, because to me what matters is how something works for the end user. For example, I use Axis and Ohs for virtually all of my bindings, but I still feel pretty strongly that they should be accessible somehow through the default sim bindings, even if it means repurposing some of them. I usually don't say much about it, because it doesn't really affect me personally -- but I might speak up if it did. And Nick has talked about his round of "summer updates" a few times, but summer is just about over in the northern hemisphere and if the updates take much longer, it'll be closer to summer in the southern hemisphere. The wait time doesn't bother me, but calling them "summer updates" at might at this point start to rankle some people who are a little less patient! Perception matters.
Also, if they're used to certain developers, like say Flysimware or FSR, who somehow keep a frenetic pace on their updates, Black Square updates might seem especially slow. It all depends on what you're used to.
@RPGamerous Spot on. You hit the nail on the head: it really does come down to perception and user experience.
When long update cycles are combined with labels like "summer update" while the season is already wrapping up, it naturally creates expectations that lead to frustration when nothing lands in your launcher. And as you mentioned, comparing different dev workflows (like Flysimware’s frequent patch cycle) naturally changes what users consider "normal."
I appreciate your balanced perspective on this. At the end of the day, we all just want to enjoy these fantastic aircraft at their best. Now that Nick has clarified the status of the sound design, I’m happy to wait for the release.
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I have nothing but good things to say about FSW, but I'm not sure what you're talking about when you say "FSW's frequent patch cycle." My 414 has gone unpatched for a very long time until recently.
Some of you are acting like these planes are in horribly broken states when they are the farthest thing from it; things that are legitimately broken get patched out quickly, while smaller fixes get rolled into larger feature updates. Complaining about both the frequency of large feature updates, the kind that are almost unheard of by any other flight sim developer, as well as the "lack of information" at some third party, unrelated storefront, absolutely reeks of entitlement of the highest order.
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I have nothing but good things to say about FSW, but I'm not sure what you're talking about when you say "FSW's frequent patch cycle." My 414 has gone unpatched for a very long time until recently.
Some of you are acting like these planes are in horribly broken states when they are the farthest thing from it; things that are legitimately broken get patched out quickly, while smaller fixes get rolled into larger feature updates. Complaining about both the frequency of large feature updates, the kind that are almost unheard of by any other flight sim developer, as well as the "lack of information" at some third party, unrelated storefront, absolutely reeks of entitlement of the highest order.
@jmarkows May I just point out a bug with the Baron's engine cutting out was noted at least 4 months ago and still hasn't been updated. In the period I've been a customer I have yet to see evidence that bugs are fixed quickly. Some issues/questions are even ignored (potentially incorrect leading edge wing shape on the Commander).
I don't want to be a source of negativity, I love Black Square aircraft, but communication needs to be far better. Reputations are difficult to build but easy to damage.
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@Black-Square watch out, if you don't update on this guy's timetable he'll accuse you of abandoning products.
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@Black-Square watch out, if you don't update on this guy's timetable he'll accuse you of abandoning products.
@jmarkows said in Updates ???? When ????:
@Black-Square watch out, if you don't update on this guy's timetable he'll accuse you of abandoning products.
Nick, I’m the one who opened this thread, so I’d rather reply directly than have people talk about me in the third person.
I have never said I don’t appreciate your aircraft, and I understand that developing complex products takes time. But the fact that the studio is small is a business choice, not a problem the customer should have to manage: someone buying the Baron & Bonanza Professional bundle pays the same price they would pay to a studio of a hundred people.
I also find the sarcastic reply given to @jmarkows unprofessional. They wrote politely, said they love Black Square aircraft, and reported a concrete problem: the Baron’s engine cutting out, known for at least four months. When a customer reports a bug, the right response is the status of the report, not a joke.
These forums exist to offer customers support and communication, yet for a long time they have been full of reports that go without an answer or a fix. So what are they for? Reporting a bug, waiting, and continuing to use a faulty product for about a year, with the promise that it would be fixed in the summer, is frustrating. Another customer’s sarcastic comment, asking which summer and in which country, shows exactly that. If you don’t want to lose customers, these reactions should be taken seriously.
I’m only describing what a customer can observe. Since the release of the Baron and Bonanza Professional on 28 October 2025, the Caravan Professional and the Commander 114 (now on sale) have been released, previews of the Twin Commanders have been shown, and the King Air Professional and the 1900D have already been announced. Over the same period, in my case, I haven’t seen a single update for the bundle. I’m not saying there is bad faith: I’m saying the priorities are visible to everyone.
Building a complete aircraft like the Commander 114 is a far bigger undertaking than fixing a known issue on the Baron. If there was capacity to finish it and put it on sale, it’s fair to ask why that fix couldn’t be scheduled as well.
A big annual update is perfectly fine, as long as it is communicated. Is there a public list of known issues for the Baron and Bonanza Professional, and an approximate date for the fix? That would be worth far more than a joke at the expense of a customer who is only asking to be heard.